Boston pier development begins

from this morning's GlobeSt --

$3B Fan Pier Under Way After 20-Year Delay
By Joe Clements

"BOSTON-The human mannequins posing as prospective future occupants proved that no expense was spared for yesterday’s Fan Pier complex groundbreaking here on the city’s waterfront, and few of the dozen or so speakers held back, either. Mayor Thomas Menino declared the three-million-sf project “the most exciting thing that will happen in Boston in our lifetime,” as he joined others lionizing veteran developer Joseph Fallon for getting the mixed-use venture under way after two decades of frustrating setbacks." ...

"The site does have one building open, with the Institute for Contemporary Art a beneficiary of the master-planned development’s civic benefits package. Now, however, Fallon is moving ahead on such elements as 1.5 million sf of office space; a five-star, 175-room hotel; high-end retail and luxury condominiums that some observers predict will set new pricing records for the market." ...

"As with the other structures, the inaugural office building known as One Fan Pier Blvd. will have new millennium technology and other forward-thinking features, said Lynch, while the entire development aims to gain LEED certification. That, according to Fallon, will make Fan Pier the largest mixed-use development in the country seeking such a distinction. “Fan Pier will truly have something for everyone,” Fallon told the audience in his speech, with four acres of open space and a 96-slip marina that will be able to accommodate mega-yachts." ...

"Besides a labyrinth of regulatory approvals mandated as part of the state’s Chapter 91 law regarding waterfront development, Fallon also had to steer through neighborhood and environmental concerns, plus the expensive prospect of developing a site that has been in disrepair for decades. While the first effort in the mid-1980s to create Fan Pier fell apart as a result of lawsuits between the original partners, the costly renovation and a series of regional economic downturns have subsequently kept the likes of Pritzker Corp. from pulling off Fallon’s feat." ....

for complete story see:
http://www.globest.com/news/1001_1001/boston/164367-1.html